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Freeholds
Freeholds Most of the ancient faerie glens, isles and hillocks disappeared long ago; their pathways to Arcadia closed when humanity's disbelief became too strong for them to remain open. Nonetheless, a few of these spots, called freeholds, remain. Such places have close connections with the Dreaming. Changelings draw power from these refuges and find peace there as well. They are places where Banality is, temporarily at least, at bay. Freeholds are so valuable to changelings that they are the center of the Kithain feudal system. They are sources of power and influence for nobles and commoners alike. Freeholds are the foci of many changelings' faerie lives. Most consider a freehold to be their home, though few changelings actually live in them. Changelings have loyalty and affection for their refuges, no matter how small or humble those places are. A Freehold is technically a location within the Near Dreaming that Changelings have claimed and made their own- building up walls and structure in a way that suits them as a place of respite from both the grim banality of the mortal land and the wildness of the untamed Dreaming. A Freehold almost always has at least 2 special passageways, one that leads from a point in the Autumn world and another that opens up into the Near Dreaming. Some have more or are near Trods that lead to yet farther locals. Most known freeholds are protrusions between the Autumn world and the Near Dreaming. Some may exist between two Dreamrealms, such as the Near and Far Dreaming. These are usually shadows of old Earthly freeholds that have migrated (willingly or unwillingly) deeper into the Dreaming. Changelings call a portal between realms in any kind of freehold a Rath Raths "Rath" is the Irish name for circular earthworks left by the fae; even humans know these are gateways into the faerie lands (though few humans really believe such "fairy tales."). This folklore is true, however, though not all raths are circular earthworks. Raths vary widely — from a silver archway for the Sidhe, to a hole under an upturned tree root for a forest-dwelling Pooka, to a gauntlet of whirling saw blades in a Nocker freehold. A rath may be any kind of portal that is large enough for a changeling to pass through, though not all are big enough to allow humans passage. The size of these archways varies but is usually proportional to a freehold's power. The freehold on the Dreaming side of a rath usually appears similar to its mundane aspect, yet there are startling differences. Perhaps north is south here, or mirrors do not reverse images in the usual manner. Banal objects disappear completely, while others are barely visible but drift away like cobwebs in the breeze when touched. The air seems crisper, and colors are more bold. Minor chimera are ubiquitous in the Dreaming aspect of most freeholds. Attracted to freeholds like fish to a coral reef, most are mindless and do little to endanger the freehold or its inhabitants. More daring chimera may use the rath to jump between realms, though they must have the Rede Traverse Dreaming to do so. Homesteads (see below) are freeholds that exist wholly in one Dreamrealm, and they have no raths that lead to another realm. A freehold is more "static" than the Dreaming that it connects to or surrounds it. Thus, a freehold situated between the Near and Far Dreaming has two aspects. The Far Dreaming aspect is less "mundane" than the freehold's Near Dreaming aspect, but still more stable than the rest of the Far Dreaming. If a changeling leaves the immediate vicinity of this island of stability and enters the Dreaming, she may become lost quickly and may never find her way back to the human world (Intelligence + Greymare roll to find her way, difficulty increases with distance from the freehold), unless she travels by way of an established trod. Wandering more than a few blocks from one's freeholds in the Dreaming is never a matter to be taken lightly. Opening a Rath Raths are usually easier to open than trods are (see below), though this is not always the case. To open a rath, a character must possess the Wayfare ••• (Portal Passage) Art and the Fae ••• (Manifold Chimera) Realm. The number of successes needed to open a rath varies greatly, depending on the circumstances. The sidhe are more adept at traveling the Dreaming than other kith, and their difficulties to open raths are reduced by two. The changeling who owns the freehold has a difficulty of 5 and requires only one success. She may then enter the freehold's Dreaming aspect on the other side of the rath, taking any other changelings (or even enchanted humans) with her. Any changeling with the appropriate Art and Realm may attempt to use another changeling's rath, but the attempt is challenging (difficulty 7, two successes needed). Some changelings use their Arts to make their raths inhospitable to uninvited guests. Creation of Freeholds Creating a freehold in the mundane world is not a simple matter, though not impossible. One must find a place with a certain amount of natural Glamour. Such locations are rare, and usually discovered only by luck or chance. Indeed, some Kithain spend years searching for one. With the location determined, the would be creator must light a torch from another freehold's balefire and bear it to the newly established haven. She must light a new fire with this torch, investing a certain amount of her Glamour. This fire becomes the balefire for the new freehold. The amount of Glamour invested determines the freehold's level (never over five). The player subtracts the points from his character's Glamour rating permanently, unless he bought the freehold with the Holdings Background during character creation. Sometimes several changelings may hold a freehold, going so far as to use a common balefire. (The difficulties to resist Banality are reduced by one for shared freeholds.) Each can withdraw what she initially invested in the freehold. Thus a changeling who invested three points of Glamour draws from the freehold at a higher level than the changeling who invested one point does. Creating freeholds in the Deep Dreaming is far more complex and requires special Arts known only to a few. Types of Freeholds * Glade—Glades are sylvan glens, typically located deep in a forest. Changelings favor glades as sites for many of their festivals. Unlike most freeholds, glades are naturally occurring wellsprings of Glamour. Glades have a sacred stone instead of a balefire as their heart. * Hearth — A faerie tavern, bar or coffee house, usually with a back-alley entrance. Many speakeasies from the 1920s are now hearths. * All changelings are welcome, as long as they have something to trade. * Lodge — Cottages, houses and mansions, collectively considered lodges, can be freeholds. Lodges are typically the strongholds; of nobles, who spend much of their time in residence. * Manor — A manor is a small faerie glen surrounding a cabin or other building, and is usually located in the wilderness. * Eyrie — Eyries are high mountain freeholds, and are typically the refuges of outcasts. * Grotto — Grottos are often overgrown sylvan glades or abandoned mines. Sluagh and Nockers often gather in such out-of-the-way freeholds, though others use them as well. * Faerie Ring—A very small glen found deep in the forest. These naturally occurring freeholds grow increasingly rare as the wild places of the world dwindle. * Isle — These enchanted islands are rarely on maps or sullied by mortal feet. Isles are private refuges, and are among the most prized freeholds. * Thorpe — Thorpes are faerie towns. They are rare these days. One of the most famous is a mining ghost town known as Mother Lode, located somewhere in Nevada, while Ireland boasts the village of Glenlea. * Urban — Only the hardiest Kithain dare to live in the World of Darkness' choking urban sprawls. Banality is at its highest here, and untainted Glamour is scarce. These freeholds are on the edge of the coming Winter. * Market — Faerie markets are places, often freeholds, where changelings come to buy, sell and trade strange treasures from a thousand realms. These places often share space with human markets covertly, though some may exist wholly in the Dreaming. A human may purchase a piece of faerie craft "accidentally" on occasion. Such transactions may be lucky or disastrous for the unwary human. : * Lost One Freehold — Most sidhe left Earth for Arcadia during the Shattering and stayed away for over 600 years. Some stayed behind, however, immersing themselves in their freeholds. These freeholds are rich in Glamour, but dangerous because of their Bedlam inspiring qualities. * Homestead — Homesteads are freeholds that are wholly in the Dreaming, yet without access to a rath. They do not have the dual nature of most freeholds; their prime virtue is stability. The Kithain build homesteads to withstand the rigors of the Dreaming. Homesteaders are few, but fiercely independent. Some changelings from every kith set up homesteads (even small villages) in the Near Dreaming. There is currently some tension between long-term homesteaders and changelings who entered the Dreaming after the Resurgence. * Nunnehi Freeholds — Nunnehi freeholds are inherently different from any other kind, and are misunderstood by European fae. Severed from the Higher Hunting Grounds (their aspect of the Dreaming), Nunnehi freeholds may nevertheless have access to the "Upper" and "Lower" Worlds. They share many characteristics of werewolf caerns and mage nodes; some Nunnehi find themselves in conflict with Garou or mages who covet their freeholds for their spiritual energies. Nunnehi freeholds vary widely in appearance, and conform to the cultural conventions of the local tribe.